although we don’t practice it as a subject but a way of life.
During the summer, we join a summer pool where they do diving, swim team and water polo. They play tons of games in and out of the pool with their friends and the awesome lifeguards.
During the “school year” they take aikido. My oldest is now a proud new orange belt 🙂 While my second just got his first yellow stripe 🙂 and my third is having fun learning at the moment.
They like taking gymnastics on and off. As well as Ballet classes.
So as soon as the weather is semi warm, we hit the road with our bikes 🙂 or they are learning to skateboard.
As for health I feel this topic is very important.
We eat all organic foods and we talk a lot about GMO’s and pesticides.
Lately we have been focusing a lot on sexual education. My kids are fascinated with how babies grow and are born and the changes the human body goes through.
In my next post I will share an awesome list of books on this topic 🙂
Honestly, I haven’t really put much effort or thought into this … I have let this kind of happen on it’s own.
I had started trying to do spelling drills with my oldest a few years back ; where I would ask my oldest to spell out a word on our chalk board , but this only worked out for a few days as he quickly said he disliked it .
I have a great board with letters on it and they sometimes like to play with them and make words.
I have found the best way is just through play. We borrow games from the library that help to teach to spelling; like boggle and scrabble. And they sound out words with the letters and sometimes they get them wrong but most of the time they get them right.
Another advantage of homeschooling today as opposed to decades ago is technology. There are many apps that can help. My son likes playing one called word scramble; where he has to find all the words with the letters in the circle.
I also feel that many apps even if not spelling related directly help to show spelling indirectly.
I feel that spelling is easier just learnt through life rather then as a subject itself; also my feeling is not to push a child to learn to spell. I vividly recall being forced to learn to spell and the anxiety it gave me. I think each child learns different things at a different pace and personally I see how my boys are very different here. My 9 year old loves writing and spelling; whereas my 11 year old not so much yet. But he is starting to show interest and is getting there slowly , whereas he is an amazing reader and reads faster and better then I do, so I am really not concerned 🙂
One of the most asked questions I get about homeschooling is “What do you use for math”?
Well to start off with … I try to make learning to count fun and we don’t use a book, but objects. Anything from toys, to food, even when are about and about we use the world around us. I try to do this also with learning to add and subtract.
Then we chose to go with the Math Mammoth program and I bought the complete set and my oldest has completed all of it and it went very well. My oldest literally flew through it, averaging 2 grades a year.
So I can tell you that math mammoth is a great program that really worked well for us and I really like the way Maria designed it; UP to grade 7. Then I found my son struggled as she stopped giving the explanation at that point … I have wished many times that she would extend her program to cover all of high school.
As her grades 1-6 are really well designed and she gives a great explanation on each topic; the few times my son needed a little extra help we googled a few sites and videos to get a better grasp of the concept.
Now that he has finished all math mammoth levels, he has started Teaching Textbooks (pre algebra), So far he loves it and finds it very fun and interactive (as we bought the CD version of the program ) but he has also said that he is finding it somewhat boring as it is covering a lot of stuff he has already done. But I am certain it will soon start to get more interesting as he will start to cover new topics. I think becuase Math Mammoth covered pre algebra a little, he is excited to move on to more challenging material.
For me “hands on learning” is getting out in the world and seeing and doing… basically the essence of homeschooling in my opinion.
From museums to stores to nature … you name it … it is all hands on 🙂
I remember growing up and going to school and thinking “while I sit in this classroom … life is happening out there”
This past week we hit the mountain for a hike / bike ride
We are fostering some kittens for a rescue group until they get adopted so my kids have been learning and observing the kittens all week … as cats are very different from dogs.
We checked out a museum we hadn’t been to in a couple of years.
The boys participated in an Apple workshop all about publishing an ebook.
Among the regular stops like the library, Aikido class, grocery store and other places just to name a few things we have done 🙂
Dear parent starting your adventure in homeschooling,
So you have decided to homeschool … first off I want to say it will be awesome and totally worth it!!!
Yes; go ahead research the heck out of it. Look at every different method and all the different curriculums and then go with your own style … which will most likely be a blend of a few.
Don’t worry about the bad moments or days … they will come and go… and quite frankly bad moments happen to everyone regardless if you homeschool your kids or they go to school.
Focus on the amazing moments… and you will have many amazing moments!
Don’t worry about keeping up with any grades or school curriculum… each child is an individual with their own learning style and their own pace, part of the joy of homeschooling is going at the pace of the child. And remember your child is not a grade … but a little person learning new things every day.
Don’t sweat the small stuff and don’t compare your child to any other child.
Don’t worry about what people tell you. You may be one of the lucky ones and live in a community full of supportive, understanding and open minded people to homeschooling or you may live in a community where you might be the only homeschooler. Don’t let THAT stop you; you might inspire others to homeschool.
And you may come across negative comments from people … brush them off and move on.
My suggestion is get online and read inspiring blogs of other homeschooling families. Connect with others even if it is online only for the moment. Start your own support group if there are none nearby or if there is one go hang out and meet some homeschooled kids and parents… I guarantee you will be totally impressed.
I went to a homeschooling event with my baby; yes you read correctly, about a decade ago I walked into a homeschool ‘show and tell’ carrying a baby (my first born) and I got some very welcoming comments. I was very curious what it would be like to homeschool and that was a great way to meet both the parents and the kids. I was hooked right away and I haven’t looked back nor regretted my decision one bit, but for those of you who are very hesitant, just remember you can always change your mind … the school will not go anywhere … so give it a try 🙂
and very important:homeschooling isn’t boutthe destination butthe journey itself!
And one more thing; this homeschooling journey is not only about your kids but also a journey you are taking with them and you will learn so much about your kids andfrom your kids and in general on this experience.
Let me kick start this 5 day series with the parliament of canada !
This is a great field trip for kids studying the government … I would suggest maybe 8 years and up …depending on the child and their interest in architecture and /or government as they not only learn about the government but the building itself is really beautiful to visit and learn about.
oh and by the way it is FREE just be careful as it fills up fast during tourist season and they have limited spaces for visits and close early in the afternoon.
My friend Marghanita Hughes had a contest giveaway a while back and I won some of her beautiful art work.
For those of you that know me and know how passionate I am about elephants you could imagine my excitement when I opened up my mail and found these…
This one in particular is my favourite
She is a very talented wonderful artist. She offers workshops and even has a shop with the cutest dolls and stories to encourage children to interact with nature 🙂 and I absolutely love reading about her amazing nature art creations.
